Sibling Matters
by authorincognito
Summary: Because having a sibling 20 years younger than you can sometimes lead to awkward situations.


"You don't mind, do you Percy?" He heard his mother ask through the specially designed cell phones made from the combined efforts of the Hephaestus and Athena cabins. "I could cancel the appointment or schedule it for another time."

"No. That's all right mom. It's no big deal." Percy said as he weaved his way through traffic.

"You really don't mind?" Sally asked, the gratitude and relief highly evident in her voice.

"_No_, mom. I really don't mind at all. I'm almost there anyway. No point in me turning back now."

"Oh, thank you so much." Sally said.

Percy turned the wheel of his blue car as he made it Sullivan Primary School. "I'm here. Good luck."

Sally mumbled something - a lot of 'thank you's' and 'how can I every repay you's' - before she finally said goodbye and hung up the phone.

Percy sighed as he got out of the car and made his way up the steps of the school building. Pulling his jacket closer to him to fight the cold weather that was just beginning to settle in despite the fact that it was almost winter.

Earlier that day, Sally Jackson had gotten a call from Sullivan Primary School, just as she had finished getting ready for an appointment with an editor to which she had sent her manuscript of a new book she had written a few months back, that her daughter Hope had taken sick in the middle of math class. Having only some thirty minutes to get to the appointment, Sally had no time to pick up her daughter from her school and take her to someone who would watch her for her. To make matters worse, Paul was still in the hospital recovering from a nasty car crash two weeks ago. These highly coincidental and problematic occurrences had led her to ask for help from her eldest child, Percy Jackson.

Opening the doors that led into the school building, Percy found himself almost face to face with the door that led to the office, which was highly convenient to him as this was the very first time he had ever been there.

As with most of schools that he had been to -which had been plentiful, considering his many expulsions- the office portrayed a combined look of sophistication and boredom. The office in itself was nothing much. There was a large counter separating two desk at which two middle-aged women were currently typing away on their computers. The walls were a floor-to-ceiling oak wood that stretched all throughout the room. This, accompanied with a ton of rose scented perfume in the air, gave the impression of someone trying to give the place an outdoorsy look, but failing considerably.

Reaching the counter, Percy cleared his throat very loudly as so that the first secretary - a rather perky looking women frizzy brown hair tied loosely into a bun- could hear him. Giving no acknowledgement that she knew he was there, Percy tried again, and this time was greeted with success.

"Hello. What do you want?" The women asked in a deep, patronizing voice which didn't match her appearance at all.

"I'm here to pick up Hope Blofis." Percy said.

"And you are?" The secretary asked.

"I'm her brother, Percy Jackson." Percy said, to which the secretary raised her eyebrows slightly, but she still pointed the way to the nurses office in which Hope was currently occupying.

Walking down the short hallway to the nurses office, Percy carefully opened the door to the nurses, where he was greeted with the sight of his little sister was lying asleep on her side facing him on a bed similar to that in hospital rooms. In the corner of the room in a wooden rocking chair sat an old lady with a kind face like a grandmother's and twinkling blue eyes.

Seeing him come in, the old woman stood up from the chair- with surprising quickness for a woman of her age- and walked over to him.

"She just fell asleep ten minutes ago. I didn't have the heart to wake her- she was feeling pretty awful." The nurse said to him.

Percy only nodded, staring at the almost peaceful looking form of his sister sleeping. However the flushed cheeks and otherwise pale skin ruined the image.

The nurse continued talking. "She's the second case we've had today. I heard from a few other schools that a flu virus was going around. Oh, dear. I do hope that that isn't the case." The nurse fanned herself with her hands as though that would drive out all of the sickness in all of the schools.

Percy walked over to the foot of the bed, only half-listening as the nurse continued talking. He reached down and picked up a bright blue backpack with Disney princesses all over it. "I'll take her now, If you don't mind."

The nurse stopped herself midsentence, cheeks turning almost as red as Hopes from embarrassment. "Oh, goodness. Was I doing it again. I'm sorry. Sometimes I lose focus and just start rambling on about things that people don't really care about or see the need for."

"That's all right." Percy said swinging the small children's backpack over his arm and reaching down to wake up his little sister. He stopped whenever he heard the voice of the nurse again.

"You seem like a nice young man. She's lucky to have a father like you."

Percy stiffened in shock. With a forced effort, he managed to turn back around to the nurse. "I'm, uh, I'm not, er, what I'm trying to say is that, um." Percy managed to stutter out before clearing his throat. "I mean, I'm her older brother."

"Oh!" The nurse exclaimed, blinking in unconcealed surprise. "I apologize. I just assumed. . ." The nurse trailed off.

"That's okay. I know you didn't mean it." Percy said as he turned back around to wake up Hope.

Slowly, Hope blinked her eyes open, squinting them against the lights of the room. "Perce?" She mumbled incoherently.

Percy kneeled down so that he was at eye level with Hope. "Hey, little sis. You ready to go?"

Hope shook her head weakly, frowning. "Too tired." She said, closing her eyes again.

"I'll carry you, if you want me too." Percy promised.

Hope feebly nodded her head. Standing back up, Percy scooped her up in his arms, her tiny form laying almost like a doll in his arms. He looked back over at the nurse. "Thanks for taking care of her until I got here."

The nurse blushed again, whispering a "Your welcome" that Percy could barely hear.

Tightening his grip on Hope, Percy walked out of the room.


End file.
